Feherty Says Tiger is Human but Not His Friend

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by Jeff Skinner

I’m one of a dying breed. I still like to read magazines and newspapers. You remember them. They were big before this internet thing took off like it has. On Sunday there is nothing better than spending a few hours with the Sunday paper. I still have subscriptions to a few monthly golf magazines and I look forward to them each month. Thumbing through each and every page is a simple pleasure I relish. One of my favorite columnists is David Feherty. On the CBS telecasts he is funny and always offers an unusual perspective on what can sometimes be a dull telecast. In his column he takes it to another level. He’ll lay into anyone or anything he dislikes. He bows to “she who must be obeyed” as he calls his wife. He plays the self deprecating jester well and can be counted on to be as irreverent and juvenile as anyone could ever imagine. He’s funny, there’s no other way to put it.

However in this month’s Golf MagazineFeherty misses his mark when he chastises the media, tabloids and mainstream, for their feeding frenzy on Tiger Woods. For years I have listened to Feherty cover Tiger and watched him interview Woods. It’s easy to see that Feherty thinks Tiger can makes shots that no one even thinks about. It’s obvious that he thinks Woods is the best ever and that’s fine. But whenever Feherty talks Tiger he takes the position that most journalist have. His lips are firmly planted on Mr. Woods butt. That’s all right with me, I understand it. Tiger is the reason plenty of people in the golf industry are employed and he is the reason purses, and television ratings and the entire revenue of the golf industry are what they are. But then Feherty says this in his column: “Some of this may have been my own fault, as over the last few years I might have given the impression I was in some way closer to Tiger’s personal self than other journalists. If this is the case, I apologize. The truth is, I was as blindsided by this fiasco as the next guy.”

Please David, give me a break. For anyone that watched the CBS telecasts it was hard not to believe that you had a close relationship. It appeared in your conversations with Woods that there was more than just a journalist/player relationship. I can’t help but think that maybe Feherty played up his relationship with Tiger on camera to look like he was pals with the world number one. I know I’m not the only one that got the impression that Woods and Feherty had a deeper relationship. I think Feherty used that to his advantage. Who wouldn’t want to hang with Tiger, pre-Tiger Gate Tiger, anyway? I don’t care if you are actually friends with Tiger or not, but don’t apologize for the “impression” that you cultivated over the years.

Then Feherty goes on in his column to quote Nietzsche and reference Greek Mythology and its flawed King Zeus to make his case that Tiger is only human, a flawed human. If Tiger has done anything in the past three months it’s prove that he is human. Although I bet that some would say the way he treated his wife was less than human. David Feherty isn’t one of them.